The Sky Wept for Forty Days

Synopsis

The Sky Wept for Forty Days is an immersion in a Shi’a pilgrimage, which once a year attracts millions of faithful to Karbala, in Iraq. Their journey, on foot, lasts at least three days. They reach the shrine of Imam Hossein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, who was martyred in 680. Along the way, figurines and representations replay the Imam’s epic as if it happened yesterday. Processions commemorate the return of the Imam’s severed head to his body. Performances follow one another as local people serve the pilgrims, offering them shelter, food and care. The sensitive camera delves into the crowd, the chants, the cries and shouts, the rhythm and gestures of the chest beats. It merges in a procession to the peak of religious fervour, in the sanctuary of the “Prince of Martyrs”.